Eddy (Truckin Eddy) Van Dongen

Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at Reunion 2010.

Eddy Van Dongen, known as Truckin' Eddy started his trucking career in Esperance, WA, driving an eight ton tipper and building concrete tanks and shed floors in the surrounding country areas.
At 20, he got a job driving for OD Transport carting sheds, wool and fuel to and from farms in the Esperance area and after this, he graduated to stock transporting cattle and sheep all over Western Australia.
Before long Eddy was hauling roadtrains into the eastern states when it was all still dirt and unformed roads across the Nullarbor. Eddy later moved to Perth where he worked for a fruit and vegie wholesaler transporting goods for Woolworths and the local markets before buying his own truck, an eight ton International, a year later. He soon graduated to a semi and within a few years was running south from Pemberton and east to Adelaide with onions and returning with oranges. Eddy recalls running an F12 made the job easy as the driver comfort beat anything else. After the sad loss of his wife in 1982 Eddy sold his truck and drove for a mate locally around Perth which allowed him to spend time at home with his children. As the years passed he started running to the eastern states again but says the paperwork and log book regulations made it complicated and he preferred to operate within Western Australia.
Eddy also started his own contract driving business and was kept busy for many years driving machinery and up to 30 different types of trucks a year. This job took him to Port Hedland where he ended up driving quads carting ore. These days Eddy usually hauls grain and fertilizer in the Lake King and Esperance area and in the off season hauls refrigerated and general freight to the north of Western Australia.
Truckin' Eddy has travelled over seven million kilometres.
Known as one of this industry's characters Eddy has been the recipient of many awards including the 1980 Professional Driver of the Year and the 2005 Safety Driver of the Year.